Natalie Palamides is a performer who effortlessly captivates, whether she’s portraying the endlessly sarcastic Mara in Progressive insurance ads or lending her voice to beloved animated figures like Buttercup in ‘The Powerpuff Girls’ reboot or young Esther in Netflix’s ‘Haunted Hotel’.
Her unique appeal stems from a vocal style reminiscent of Aubrey Plaza’s dry wit and Natasha Lyonne’s husky tone, skillfully balancing excitement, naiveté, and a touch of weary indifference. This versatility, combined with her exceptional acting and quick adaptability, makes her ideal for animation. Matt Roller, creator of ‘Haunted Hotel,’ aptly described her as ‘a Rolodex of emotions,’ highlighting her wide-ranging expressive capabilities.
Despite her growing success, Palamides remains grounded. She humbly shared in a recent interview, ‘It just feels incredibly fortunate that I get paid to do silly voices, something I’ve enjoyed since childhood.’
However, this initial glimpse into Palamides’ career is just a clever misdirection; her true brilliance shines brightest in her live stage performances. These shows are a masterclass in hilarious, subversive, and emotionally charged clowning. Each production is meticulously crafted yet fearlessly chaotic, with Palamides fully committing to even the most outlandish and daring moments.
In her show ‘Weer,’ Natalie Palamides embodies both characters, a male and a female partner, tracing their three-year relationship at the Cherry Lane Theater in Manhattan’s West Village.
Embodying her characters fully in ‘Weer,’ the comedian’s body is divided, with one side meticulously costumed and made up as Christina, and the other as the distinctive, mustachioed Mark.
Now 35, Palamides, a Los Angeles-based writer and performer, has secured her most prominent New York engagement yet. Her 2024 show, ‘Weer,’ marks the inaugural extended run at the revamped Cherry Lane Theater, a renowned Off-Broadway venue recently acquired by A24, the acclaimed studio known for films like ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’ ‘Hereditary,’ and ‘Moonlight.’ Her rising star is undeniable, with ‘Weer’ completely selling out its run through November 9th, even before previews began.
Paying tribute to her favorite film genre, romantic comedy, ‘Weer’ begins dramatically with a New Year’s Eve 1999 argument between a couple, Mark and Christina. The narrative then shifts, revisiting the enchanting ‘meet-cute’ and the blossoming of their relationship three years earlier.
Palamides elevates the theatrical experience by portraying both characters, meticulously dividing her costume and makeup from head to toe, akin to the iconic Batman villain Two-Face. One half of her embodies the mustachioed Mark, initially clad in cargo pants and a flannel shirt, while the other half transforms into Christina, sporting a pink top, low-cut jeans, and voluminous 1990s hairstyle.
Unsurprisingly, the performance includes a memorable sex scene.
While it sounds audacious, ‘Weer’ is a natural evolution of Palamides’s earlier work, ‘Nate: A One Man Show,’ which premiered as a Netflix special in 2020. Critics, like Jason Zinoman of The New York Times, lauded ‘Nate’ as ‘a startlingly unusual creation,’ underscoring Palamides’s unique artistic vision.
In ‘Nate,’ Palamides embodied the titular character, a flannel-clad, mustachioed ‘bro’ who directly tackles themes of masculinity and consent. The character provocatively interacts with audience members, gently inquiring ‘May I?’ while gesturing towards sensitive areas. The show’s central tension revolves around an uncomfortable encounter between Nate and his art teacher, Miss Jackson, a mannequin brought to life through Palamides’s skilled puppetry.
Palamides expressed her artistic philosophy, stating, ‘I thrive on moments where I can have the audience roaring with laughter one moment, then suddenly pull the rug out from under them—whether through shock, fright, or evoking a sense of sadness, deep emotion, or even enchantment. It’s truly amazing how many ways you can shift between uproarious comedy and profound emotional experiences.’
In a similar vein, ‘Weer’ is a comedy born from tragedy. Palamides explained her creative impulse: ‘I really wanted to stage a violent car crash.’ She recalled the 1960s song ‘Last Kiss,’ famously covered by Pearl Jam in the late ’90s, a tune her aunt often played. ‘I was always captivated by the vivid imagery of a man cradling his dying love on the ground as she bled,’ Palamides shared.
An embedded video showcasing Natalie Palamides’ performance style.
This seamless transition between humor and heartache is central to the art of clowning, a discipline Palamides deeply respects, so much so that she still feels a touch of impostor syndrome. ‘Everyone else calls me a clown, and it’s a label I truly aspire to,’ she confessed.
Palamides’ passion for performance began early in her childhood in Pittsburgh. In middle school, she was known for her talent in character improvisation, with classmates often requesting impromptu performances in the hallways. However, this natural gift didn’t immediately translate to success in a clowning class she took at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
When her professor, Rick Kemp, observed her struggling, he issued a stern warning: ‘If you can’t be vulnerable and truly open up, you’re going to fail clowning.’ Palamides found this deeply ironic, given that clowning inherently celebrates failure. ‘Failing clowning would have been a triumph, wouldn’t it?’ she mused. Nevertheless, she dedicated herself to breaking down her emotional barriers and ultimately earned an A.
Her artistic journey continued when the Philadelphia-based Pig Iron theater company held a residency at her college. This experience allowed her to delve deeper into theater’s capacity for creating a diverse range of characters. She contributed to Pig Iron’s production of ‘I Promised Myself to Live Faster,’ a play inspired by the remarkable life and art of New York’s Charles Ludlam.
Palamides revealed that it was during this workshop that she ‘truly discovered the joy of performing in drag.’ Inspired by Charles Ludlam’s practice, participants were encouraged to portray characters of the opposite sex. This process allowed them to explore the delicate balance between camp and genuine emotional connection that was characteristic of Ludlam’s work.
After graduation, Palamides moved to Los Angeles with her partner, where she began finding animation gigs. More significantly, she enrolled in John Gilkey’s renowned Idiot Workshop, an experience she credits as the foundational catalyst for L.A.’s vibrant alternative clowning community.
Audience interaction is a core component of Palamides’s clowning. She meticulously crafts her shows through public improvisations, expertly reading audience reactions and weaving them into her unique theatrical universe. In her debut show, ‘Laid,’ she famously depicted a woman who daily lays an egg, facing the profound dilemma of whether to consume it or nurture it.
‘Nate,’ Palamides’s earlier work, was captured for a Netflix special in 2020. She credits a college workshop, drawing inspiration from the performer Charles Ludlam, with helping her ‘discover the joy in doing drag.’
Palamides operates without a formal script. While her performances are verbally sharp and physically precise, she shies away from traditional rehearsals. ‘It’s too much effort to go through all that for an empty room,’ she quipped. Consequently, her shows often conclude with a stage that looks as if a hurricane swept through, littered with props, detritus, and various liquids.
Fellow comedian and clown, Courtney Pauroso, shared her admiration: ‘It’s incredibly entertaining to watch her intentionally create seemingly impossible or even dangerous situations for herself on stage, only to brilliantly navigate her way through them every time.’ Pauroso and Palamides previously collaborated on the series ‘The Broadcast,’ which is currently seeking a streaming platform.
Palamides candidly admitted, ‘I enjoy surprising audiences, and perhaps that’s a bit cliché. Sometimes I feel like a bit of a hack comedian because many of my acts, such as nudity, fire-breathing, or wrestling, rely heavily on shock value.’
However, this self-deprecating remark comes from an artist whose performances offer insightful critiques on themes like gender, all while demonstrating a meticulous understanding of the intricate mechanics of comedy.
Palamides views her creative process as an ongoing cycle of experimentation and boundary-pushing. She emphasizes that there’s ‘always room for failure,’ a core tenet of her artistic philosophy.
During an interview at Wild Cherry, the restaurant within the Cherry Lane Theater, Palamides vividly illustrated her meticulous approach to physical comedy. She dissected a subtle moment where Mark places his hand on Christina’s arm as she attempts to exit, demonstrating a series of minute variations. She explained how tiny adjustments in movement could dramatically alter an audience’s reaction, proving how ‘really specific’ these micro-movements are. Her demanding perfectionism was also noted by longtime collaborator Bill O’Neill, whom she directed in ‘The Amazing Banana Brothers.’ O’Neill recounted a time he agreed to her giving notes mid-performance: ‘She immediately interjected, ‘We don’t quite believe you—why don’t you try a different entrance?”
O’Neill recalled performing ‘perhaps 30 different entrances’ over the next hour. He also described how, as he continually slipped on banana peels during the show, Palamides would retrieve them from the stage and toss them back, urging him with shouts of ‘Faster! Faster!’
Despite her intense direction, O’Neill harbors no resentment. He is currently a pink-lingerie-clad assistant in ‘Lady Magic,’ a critique of pompous magicians, which Palamides conceptualized and directed with aspirations for a Las Vegas residency. The show, which had a workshop run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August, is being developed with Spiegelworld, the innovative live-entertainment company renowned for productions like ‘Absinthe’ and ‘Discoshow.’
‘Lady Magic’ showcases many of Palamides’s signature elements, such as the playful manipulation of a soft rubber penis. However, it’s further distinguished by her unwavering commitment to integrating genuine magic tricks. She admitted, ‘Everyone would tease me because I kept insisting it needed to be more magical.’
Palamides embraces continuous experimentation and boundary-pushing as integral to her artistic method. This philosophy was vividly demonstrated in a surreal episode of the Apple TV+ series ‘Gutsy,’ which centered on comedy and brought together Palamides, Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, and the esteemed French clown Philippe Gaulier. Notably, during their collaboration, Chelsea Clinton willingly participated in a recreation of the provocative ‘May I?’ scene from Palamides’s show ‘Nate,’ allowing Palamides to gently touch her breasts.
Ultimately, the effectiveness of an idea can only be determined through action.
Palamides concluded philosophically, ‘Some spaces allow for playful exploration, and there’s always room to stumble. That, after all, is the essence of the clown.’